Fiddler’s Green, a Vilano Beach restaurant closed since 2007, has become so deteriorated that the St. Johns County Commission on Tuesday will discuss razing the structure.

When it goes, so will a part of Vilano Beach’s history.

The structure sits where the 75,000-square-foot Vilano Beach Casino was built in 1926. The casino — which did not offer gambling — acted as sort of a community country club with a 150-foot-long pool, restaurant and ballroom.

However, a storm coupled with high tides in December 1937 undermined the structure and it collapsed.

Two Vilano Beach residents, Frank Usina and his step-brother, opened a snack bar in the 1970s on that site called The Snack Shack.

It featured a big deck, kitchen and a small room inside. They sold it in the 1980s and the building was added to and opened as Pirate Jim’s by the late George Cash.

The last owner was Scott Singleton, who now owns two other restaurants in St. Johns County.

According to Wil Smith, director of recreation and parks, the County Commission on Tuesday will ask the Florida Community Trust — part of the Department of Environmental Protection — for a final go-ahead to tear it down.

The county also must send a letter to the Trust declaring that it intends to build another structure there within 10 years.

“We could turn (the new building) into civic space or rent it for weddings and family reunions,” Smith said. “(But) there is a lot of time. Whatever we do will be based on what the community wants to see there.”

“Anahma” comes from the name Anahma Realty Corp., owned by August Heckscher, a New York financier who platted Vilano Beach.

In 2008, the county applied for a Florida Forever grant to buy it for $5.5 million.

In the joint purchase, the state paid $4.1 million to cover 75 percent of the grant while the county paid $1.4 million as its match.

“We have been successful seeking state grants. Our projects fit in line with the goals and objectives of Florida Forever (which is run by the Florida Community Trust),” Smith said.

But county finances spiraled down during the recession and there was no money for renovation.

The county promised to make improvements to the site and manage it in accordance with an approved management plan. One improvement was to renovate the existing building into public occupancy for office, rental, educational and community gathering space.

But renovation costs have been estimated at $2.2 million, and time, wood rot and weather have done their work.

Vivian Browning of Vilano Beach said the community is solidly behind the demolition and is happy that there is 300 feet of public beach at Vilano Oceanfront Park.

“In order for a community to evolve, you’re going to have to demolish obsolete small buildings from time to time,” Browning said.

ADVISORY: Users are solely responsible for opinions they post here and for
following agreed-upon rules of civility. Posts and
comments do not reflect the views of this site. Posts and comments are
automatically checked for inappropriate language, but readers might find some
comments offensive or inaccurate. If you believe a comment violates our rules,
click the "Flag as offensive" link below the comment.

"In order for the Community to evolve, you are going to have to demolish obsolete small buildings from time to time"
Vivian Browning

~~~~~
Yeah, and the open policy question for all St. Johns is when. Now you are happy to imagine 300 feet of public beach but less than a decade you were extolling the extreme values of the historic Green Fiddler restaurant as part of a $5.5 million transaction that would give the county a special Vilano park in a special mixed use jurisdiction. Remember all the hype about the county park helping enhance the authentic 'retro' cultural style? The museum idea was also to 'authenticate' that the Vilano Mixed Use Zone actually had a historical credibility that might justify 20 acres given a special Community Revitalization zoning as rationale for the endless fight against 'coastal blight.' When the Mixed Use district was passed in 2004-05 the illustration of blight were the old single wide trailers sitting on vacant lots. In 2013 the mentality seems to have shifted to expensive county properties that were not kept up despite their originally touted value.

Those of us who do not have the privilege of living in Vilano or North Beach look at all the art deco lights, fancy entrance fountain, redone bluebird of paradise, new Publix grocery and wonder how the Green Fiddler restoration got overlooked. Oh yeah, it was the 2008 nor'easters and winter storms that caught local residents unaware.

Probably the same storms and unexpected forces of nature that have made fixing up the Vilano pier a half a million dollar expense for the county in general. Now if I called the pier obsolete Vivian and others would tell me I am just jealous of the best sunset viewing place in the county. Certainly, the Vilano pier, like the $12 million storm water system and the $2million lights are legitimate features of maintaining the Mixed Use District as one of the county's revitalized gems of budding economic opportunity.

But I believe the sad fate of Green Fiddler restaurant, as embedded in the context of Vilano Mixed Use jurisdiction for nearly a decade is, in actuality, a documentation of development priorities. Such documentation has little claim to the initial Community Revitalization Act rationale of cleaning up 'blight' by emphasizing restoration and preservation of history and nature.

Some would argue that efforts to change the Main Street design of mixed resident and commercial to 'speculative space' zoning (actually passed as a non zoning variance) and four story building height was a policy act of bad faith. Others might point to the effort to get all land parcels in the Mixed Use Zone declared eligible for 'transfer development rights' instead of honest historic structures was an act of bad faith. But I would prefer to echo Vivian Browning's description of 'evolution' in this development venture and propose that the St. Johns County Commission reconsider the assumed generic value of Vilano Mixed Use District and its sliding scale of 'planned obsolesces' for the Main Street CDD expectations.

I admit that I always was leery of the Main Street CDD bond for Vilano development because of its 30 year interest obligation(starting in 2006). Not that the County doesn't continue to 'save money' each time the initial bond is refinanced, but I would love to see the actual interest paid to date by all taxpayers in the county. As Vilano has been 'in the red' since its inception, the yearly bond interest and all preventative maintenance cost have spread among all taxpayers, not just the residents and property owners of North Shore.

If the burden of this perpetual 'sunk cost' is to be absorbed by all until the Vilano commerce generated enough sales tax to get into 'the black' then county residents may look forward for another decade or so of extra fiscal obligation while North Shore and Vilano district property is disproportionately subsidized. Of course, all community revitalization efforts expect some special help and compensation but compare Vilano to West St. Augustine or Flagler Estates between 2008 and 2013 and ask yourself some hard economic questions about equity and fairness even among the anointed.

At a minimum, the County Commission should rescind the current bond stipulation that when a profit is finally shown the generated money must be 'dedicated' to the Vilano Mixed Use Zone. Bluntly, if the general interest and maintenance for the special use jurisdiction is paid by all during the 'red' years' then any 'black year' profits should be shared across the county as general revenue. Just cite Vivian's 'evolving' situation argument and declare the original intentions of the Main Street CDD were found to be 'obsolete' for 2013 reality by the fiscal pragmatics of investing in a coastal town center.